Small diameter Smalley rings

The need for smaller retaining rings and springs in the medical, robotics, and electronic sectors has grown. Smalley continues to push the boundaries of coiling technology, producing the smallest wave springs and retaining rings on the market,stocking over 10,000 standards with diameters as small as .188” or 5 mm.

Smalley’s retaining ring and wave spring products are manufactured by edge-coiling flat wire to specified diameters, the ability to produce springs even up to 2,000mm has never been a problem but, when small diameters were needed, the limitations were more acute. However, over the past decade in particular, Smalley's production team have greatly enhanced the ability to produce smaller and smaller springs. This has culminated in the recent expansion of our popular YC & YCM series down to 0.188 inches and 5 mm in diameter with bespoke retaining ring and spring designs being available down to 0.157 inches or 4mm in diameter.

Simon Ward, TFC's Product Manager said “One of the chief reasons for having to decline projects in the past was the limitation on coiling diameter but with these latest developments, being able to offer springs down to 4mm in diameter is a great opportunity for us to further develop our sales of these unique products. We can certainly see, for example, possibilities for designers within the medical, electronics and robotics industries where these types of springs couldn't fit before.”

Smalley are now also ISO 13485:2016 certified to provide the best engineered products, quality, and service to the sector.

With ISO9001: 2008 approval incorporating Design Status, our qualified engineering staff are able to offer a complete free of charge engineering service and are available to assist with part selection, custom design, application requirements, material selection and more.

Applications are discussed in depth, first-off design data and drawings are submitted for approval to ensure our customers are provided with the correct design, first time. However, should modifications prove necessary, our no-tooling process and flexible manufacturing procedures mean the production of prototypes is easily and economically achieved without onerous tooling charges and long lead times.